A Step Back: 2000, John's final year at the Times-News

Published: Sunday, March 2, 2014 at 12:19 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, March 2, 2014 at 12:19 p.m.

Last week for our step back in time, we visited the year 2001. This week, we're going to do one better and go back to the year 2000, the last year I had the pleasure of working with John Sterritt here in the sports department at the Times-News.

John was one of the good guys. The first time I met him was back in 1998, and I'm guessing he was pretty fresh out of college. I never asked him.

That was back in the day when we had light tables and actually had to "paste up" our printed pages. The paste-up person took the printed copy out of the printer, fed it through a wax machine and pasted it onto the page. After several revisions, the final page then went to our press guys in the back.

It was a hectic job, but John was always calm. During those first few months, he never spoke to me. He just did his job, with wax and cuts on his fingers, with no complaints. He was the fastest paste-up guy we had.

Then in 1999, our prep sports writer, Andre Gower, left, and John came over to my desk one night and finally spoke.

"You think I have a shot at Andre's job? I put in an application," he said.

I told him if it was up to me I'd have him start right at that moment. He was one of the hardest workers in the building. Ron Wagner did end up hiring John, and for two years, John worked with me in sports. We had a blast.

In his final year here in 2000, it was quite a year for area high school sports. It began in the fall with North Henderson's John Henderson and Hendersonville's Erika Schneble winning individual cross country state titles. That was followed by two volleyball state titles from county teams: Hendersonville, which won its fourth straight, and East Henderson, which won its second straight. East followed the volleyball title with the girls basketball state title.

And John loved every minute of it. Then later that year, I remember taking him home one night. For the first time, he wasn't joking with me and trying to make me laugh.

"I think I'm about to make a big change. I think I will go to law school and be a lawyer like my dad," he said.

"That's great, John," I said as we neared his home. "I'll really miss you, but I know you'll be successful. I've really, really enjoyed working with you."

John did become a lawyer, and I kept tabs with him through social media. That's how I found out the horrible news. Someone had posted on his Facebook wall "I'll miss you dear friend." I thought he was just moving out of town. As I read further down his page, I learned John died unexpectedly Thursday morning. I'm still in shock.

So for now, I want to hold on to his memory by taking this step back in time — a time when John was here, making us all laugh. It's what he did best.

<p>Last week for our step back in time, we visited the year 2001. This week, we're going to do one better and go back to the year 2000, the last year I had the pleasure of working with John Sterritt here in the sports department at the Times-News. </p><p>John was one of the good guys. The first time I met him was back in 1998, and I'm guessing he was pretty fresh out of college. I never asked him.</p><p>That was back in the day when we had light tables and actually had to "paste up" our printed pages. The paste-up person took the printed copy out of the printer, fed it through a wax machine and pasted it onto the page. After several revisions, the final page then went to our press guys in the back.</p><p>It was a hectic job, but John was always calm. During those first few months, he never spoke to me. He just did his job, with wax and cuts on his fingers, with no complaints. He was the fastest paste-up guy we had.</p><p>Then in 1999, our prep sports writer, Andre Gower, left, and John came over to my desk one night and finally spoke.</p><p>"You think I have a shot at Andre's job? I put in an application," he said.</p><p>I told him if it was up to me I'd have him start right at that moment. He was one of the hardest workers in the building. Ron Wagner did end up hiring John, and for two years, John worked with me in sports. We had a blast.</p><p>In his final year here in 2000, it was quite a year for area high school sports. It began in the fall with North Henderson's John Henderson and Hendersonville's Erika Schneble winning individual cross country state titles. That was followed by two volleyball state titles from county teams: Hendersonville, which won its fourth straight, and East Henderson, which won its second straight. East followed the volleyball title with the girls basketball state title.</p><p>And John loved every minute of it. Then later that year, I remember taking him home one night. For the first time, he wasn't joking with me and trying to make me laugh.</p><p>"I think I'm about to make a big change. I think I will go to law school and be a lawyer like my dad," he said. </p><p>"That's great, John," I said as we neared his home. "I'll really miss you, but I know you'll be successful. I've really, really enjoyed working with you."</p><p>John did become a lawyer, and I kept tabs with him through social media. That's how I found out the horrible news. Someone had posted on his Facebook wall "I'll miss you dear friend." I thought he was just moving out of town. As I read further down his page, I learned John died unexpectedly Thursday morning. I'm still in shock.</p><p>So for now, I want to hold on to his memory by taking this step back in time — a time when John was here, making us all laugh. It's what he did best.</p>